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Wednesday, 5 June 2013

William Morris gallery wins £100,000 Art Fund prize

The William Morris Gallery in north-east London has
won this year's £100,000 Art Fund prize for Museum of the Year following a £5m
renovation.

The Walthamstow
gallery was praised for its community outreach and for "setting the
highest standards of curatorship".

A second prize,
of £10,000, went to the Hepworth gallery in Wakefield for its
"world-class" education programme.

The winners
were announced by Private Eye editor Ian Hislop on Tuesday at the Victoria and
Albert Museum in London.

The recipients
were revealed live on BBC Radio 4's Front Row.

Born in 1834,
William Morris was one of the principal founders of the British Arts and Crafts
movement, a pioneer of the socialist movement in Britain and a writer of poetry
and fiction.

His
world-famous designs for wallpaper and patterned fabrics are now housed in the
home in which he grew up.

The gallery
opened in 1950 but faced closure in 2007 before securing funding for its
redevelopment.

"Its
extraordinary collections, beautifully presented, draw the visitor engagingly
through Morris's life and work and through the building itself," said the
judges.

Funding concerns

The Art Fund
prize, now in its 11th year, rewards "innovation and creativity in
bringing objects and collections to life".

Other nominees
this year included the Baltic in Gateshead, Narberth Museum in Pembrokeshire
and the Kelvingrove Art Gallery in Glasgow.

Stephen
Deuchar, director of the Art Fund and chair of the judges, said the 10
finalists had set "world-class standards" despite concerns about
public investment and arts funding in the UK.

"Important
and beautiful collections and their visiting publics are being brilliantly
served across the country," he continued.